Perry: ‘I stepped in it last night’

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Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry tried to do a little damage control after his poor debate performance by appearing on as many morning shows as possible Thursday.

At Wednesday night’s CNBC debate, the candidate made at least three attempts to remember the three agencies of government that he would abolish and failed every time.

Even prominent Perry supporters suspect that his campaign is now effectively over.

“I stepped in it last night,” Perry told Fox News host Gretchen Carlson. “That’s for sure. I think I’m no different than a lot of Americans as they are sitting around — listen, there are some agencies of government I would like to forget and I certainly forgot one last night. … If anybody’s looking for the slickest politician or the slickest debater, I readily admit, I’m not that person.”

“Is there a chance in the wake of your debate performance last night that you are going to call it quits?” Fox News host Steve Doocy asked.

“You know what today is?” Perry replied. “It’s the two hundred and I believe thirty six birthday of the United States Marine Corps. If there was a day to quit, this isn’t it. We’re going to continue to work. We’re going to go back and talk to people across the country about issues that they’re really concerned about, not who’s the best debater or who has, you know, forgotten an agency as they were listing out some that they would do away with.”

Watch this video from Fox News’s Fox & Friends, broadcast Nov. 10, 2011.